Harry Potter and the Troublesome Transformation
by mdauben
Summary: For Christmas during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts his godfather gave him an amazing gift; instructions on how to become an Animagus! After spending the rest of the school year working on becoming an Animagus Harry feels he is close, but before he died Sirius had warned him against practicing by himself.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story was originally written in 2013 for the Animagus Challenge on Sink Into Your Eyes. I just realized recently that I never posted it here, so for those who have not seen it before I hope you enjoy it! - MD

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Harry Potter sighed as he sat cross legged on his unmade bed in the smallest bedroom of Number 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging. Hedwig was out hunting tonight so he was all alone in his room. He was bored again today because he had nothing to do in the prison that was his aunt and uncle's house. It had all started some two weeks prior when Mad-Eye Moody and several other Order of the Phoenix members had met him at King's Cross Station and proceeded to "have a little chat" with the Dursleys to ensure that Harry would be treated better this summer.

Since then, his relatives had not yelled at him or forced him to do the endless chores around the house which they had in the past. They just pretended that he wasn't there, for the most part. While he would have once considered this a wonderful state of affairs, after a few days he had actually begun to almost miss those long lists of chores. At least that would have given him something to do, something to pass his time while he waited to be rescued and returned to the world where he really belonged.

It gave him too much time to think about the stupid mistake he had made at the end of the year that led him and five of his friends into a trap in the Department of Mysteries last month. It had only been dumb luck that none of them had been killed in the resulting battle with Voldemort and his followers. As it was, several of his friends had been seriously hurt and Sirius…

No! He couldn't dwell on those thoughts if he was going to accomplish his goal this evening.

Harry had spent the last Christmas with his Godfather at Grimmauld Place after Mr. Weasley had been attacked. Those were the memories he wanted to concentrate on. Harry thought back to that day.

They had all finished the wonderful holiday feast prepared by Mrs. Weasley and everyone had retired to various rooms around the gloomy old house to relax, talk and play games. Sirius had pulled Harry up to his old room while the others were occupied.

"I've got one more present for you today, kiddo!" Sirius had said with a conspiratorial grin.

He then handed him a worn old book titled _**The Animagus Transformation**_ _by Madame Pollyanna Species_ and a stack of parchment tied together with twine.

"The book is obvious," his godfather told him. "The parchment contains the notes I made on how James and I worked out our own transformations while we were at school. I figure between the two of them you should have a real leg up on your own transformation!"

"Sirius!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down, "this is… its brilliant! This has to be the best Christmas present ever!"

Sirius looked pleased at the reception his gift produced, but he did have a few words of caution. "I'm glad you like it Harry. I rather thought this was something you might like to do. Just remember it took your father and me years to achieve our transformations. Now, you've got an advantage in not having to search for the information in the Restricted Section of the library before you can even start, but I still expect this will still take months, if not longer, of hard work and dedication."

"I understand, Sirius," Harry replied, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "but I really want to do it, no matter how long it takes. Thanks."

The two wizards hugged each other after which Harry snuck back to the room he shared with Ron to hide the book and notes in his trunk before rejoining the other young people in the parlour where they played Exploding Snap until Mrs. Weasley told them it was time to go to bed for the night.

Harry spent much of the rest of the holidays secretly reading everything he had been given whenever he could get away from his friends. Transfiguration had never been his best subject but he was so motivated to understand the magic involved in the Animagus transformation that he studied diligently and questioned Sirius when he could without raising suspicion, until he finally thought he understood at least the basics.

Just before Harry returned to school he and Sirius had a whispered conversation in the upstairs hallway about how to proceed with his efforts.

"Now, you know the first step in both the book and the notes is to master the specialized meditation that will allow you to visualize your Animagus form," Sirius said. "This part is safe enough for you to practice on your own, although it may take months of hard work before you even catch a glimpse of your animal form."

Harry nodded in understanding. This part of the process, at least, he felt he fully understood.

"Now, I don't really expect you to reach that point before the end of the school year," Sirius cautioned his godson, "but if you do I want to stress _not_ to try and continue on with practicing the actual transformation without someone there that knows how to change you back if you aren't able to do it yourself!" He chuckled and then told Harry, "While I was practicing back at school before we had even progressed to total transformations I got stuck as a half wizard and half dog. Even with James there I was almost unable to change back because he was laughing so hard he couldn't pronounce the Reversal Spell!"

After the two of them finished laughing, Sirius had clapped him on the shoulder and said, "If you do manage to find your Animagus form by this summer, I'll figure out some way for us to get together during the hols so you can practice."

So, saying goodbye to Sirius and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry had returned to school with the book and notes hidden in the bottom of his trunk and a determination to work hard at his goal of becoming an Animagus. Over the next few months he would practice his meditation almost every night, usually with the curtains on his bed drawn after Ron and his dorm mates were asleep.

After events at the Department of Mysteries, Harry had actually spent more and more time on his meditation. He found it helped push away the guilt and anger he was feeling by that time. He had finally gotten to the point just before school ended where he thought he saw a vague image of something four footed when he was deep in his trance. These visions were brief, however, and he had still not quite made out what sort of animal it was.

Just before he had left King's Cross Station with the Dursely's, Remus had pulled Harry aside for a quick word.

"Harry," he said with a sad smile, "Sirius told me about the... 'present' he gave you at Christmas. I was thinking that when you feel you're ready to start on the actual partial transformations, perhaps you should talk to Minerva McGonagall? I know from listening to Sirius and your father that it can be dangerous to practice on your own. I know the Reversal Spell, but she's the only other Animagus I know of, so she'd be a much better source of guidance for you. I'm sure she'd be delighted to help you work on becoming an Animagus yourself." Finishing, Remus had wished him a pleasant summer before departing with the rest of the Order members.

Harry had dismissed this idea almost at once, however. It wasn't that he didn't trust his Head of House. He agreed she would probably be delighted to help him work on becoming an Animagus. He suspected he might even be able to convince her to keep it a secret at least as long as Voldemort was around. He really wanted to do this on his own, though. It was the last thing that he and Sirius had shared together and he did not want to involve anyone else if he could help it.

After returning to the Dursleys' and spending the first day sulking in his bedroom, Harry had pulled out the book and notes and resumed his meditations. With nothing else to do he spent hours each day at his task and was soon rewarded with a clear image of his animal! His first impulse had been to immediately write to Remus and tell him what it was, but then he stopped and reconsidered. After the events of the last year he realized he could no longer be totally confident of the confidentiality of any owl post, even one carried by Hedwig. There was also the subject of his Animagus form itself. He was afraid that Remus would be taking the mickey out of him once he found out what sort of animal Harry was! No, on second thought, Harry decided to wait until later that summer when he saw Remus in person to tell him.

This left Harry in a bit of a quandary, however. What would he do now to pass the time? He reread the book and notes once again and carefully memorized the next step in the process, the practicing of partial transformations. Sirius had warned him not to do this on his own, however, so at first he just read and re-read, making sure he totally understood the process. After a whole two days, though, he has overcome with boredom and impatience so he decided to forge ahead. What was the worst that could happen!

It took him almost another week before he managed to change one of his hands, but things seemed to go quickly after that first breakthrough. Now he could change various parts of his body almost at will. He had an old cracked hand mirror he had dug out of the dust bin in the bathroom to check himself during these transformations to make sure he got the parts he couldn't see correct, and to make sure he didn't forget to change anything back before leaving his room to use the loo or forage for food down in the kitchen.

Transforming parts of himself for the last week had been exciting at first, but now he was becoming bored again and was eager to move on. It might be weeks yet before Professor Dumbledore decided he could leave Privet Drive and he just felt he could not wait any longer. After reading one more time through Sirius' notes on performing the total transformation, Harry set the parchment down beside himself on the bed and rested his hands lightly on his knees.

"Well," he said, "here goes!"

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and quickly pulled forth the image of his animal from deep in his mind. He carefully considered each individual part of the animal. His legs, his body, and his head. His eyes and ears. His long tail, sharp claws and needle-like teeth…

Suddenly, he experienced a swooping feeling in his stomach and a moment of disorientation. When this cleared, Harry opened his eyes and looked around. His head was closer to the bed than it had been and the worn old furniture in the room seemed to loom up around him. The colours of things seemed muted, but at the same time details were clearer than he remembered. He looked down at himself with delight, turning and twisting to see as much of himself as he could. Remembering the mirror sitting across the room on his desk he jumped off the bed and walked quickly over to his goal. Looking up at the towering desk, he crouched down and leapt up onto the desktop. Still a bit unsure of his new body he had to scramble with his back feet to make it all the way, but in a moment he was there. He looked down at the mirror laying next to Hedwig's empty cage with delight as he was greeted by the sight of a lean black tomcat with bright green eyes staring back at him! Looking closely he thought he saw a small imperfection in the fur over his right eye that would correspond to the scar on his forehead.

Harry meowed loudly in excitement before realizing what he had done and looking quickly over his shoulder towards the door to his room. He picked up his ears and listened intently, but didn't hear anything from his relatives. Looking at the old alarm clock on the small table by his bed he realized it was well after midnight and they must be sound asleep.

Looking back at the mirror Harry bared his teeth in a very un-feline grin before jumping off the desk and prowling around the room. He felt swift and sure of himself, strong and confident. He practiced leaping up and down off the bed, the desk and even the wardrobe as he gained experience with his new body.

Jumping back onto the desk he stalked over to the open window and looked out over the darkened street. Wonderful scents of flowers, grass, and other growing things that he had never noticed before filled his nostrils. Looking out into the night he realized he could see almost as well as in daylight once his eyes adjusted to the gloom. Pricking his ears up he could hear the quiet sounds of Little Whinging at night that he knew he would never have heard as a human; a lone car passing in the distance, the soft rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze, the small sounds of the night animals going about their business in the safely of the darkness.

This was wonderful! It was like a whole new world had opened up to the young wizard. His first impulse was to climb out of his window and leap to the ground and explore this exciting night scene. He was actually crouched on the windowsill ready to jump when he finally he came to his senses. If he left like this he wasn't sure how he could get back to his room and if anything happened to him no one would know to look for one more cat among all the others one could find in any Muggle neighbourhood. No, it was late and he'd accomplished more than enough for now.

With a feeling of deep satisfaction he jumped smugly down off the desk and then back up onto the bed. Settling himself into a relaxed pose with his long tail wrapped about his paws, he closed his eyes willed himself back into his normal, human form.

There was no swooping feeling in his stomach this time and no sense of disorientation, either. Opening his eyes and looking down at himself he saw he was still a cat. Taking a moment to calm himself once more he closed his eyes and concentrated. He focused harder and harder on the image of his normal appearance, the size and shape of each part of his body while waiting for the feelings that heralded the transformation. Still nothing!

Harry opened his eyes and looked down at himself again with growing dismay. Sweet Merlin, he was _stuck_!


	2. Chapter 2

Harry panicked. What was he going to do! He couldn't stay as a cat for the rest of the summer! He eyes darted desperately around his room until they fell on the stack of parchment he had left sitting on his bed. He quickly leapt onto the pile, but after pawing through the sheets he found it was very difficult to actually read what was written there. Try as he might he just could not find the relevant information on changing back again! He wasn't sure if it had something to do with being a cat now that made reading difficult or if he was just too upset to see straight, but he finally gave up and batted the pile in frustration, causing the whole thing to slide off the bed into the space in between his bed frame and the bedside table.

Pacing around in circles on the bed, he finally calmed down enough to take a seat and try again to transform back. He concentrated harder and harder until his head hurt with no luck. Over and over again he went through the steps in his mind, but nothing he did seemed to matter. Finally, as the sun outside began to rise after hours of fruitless effort, he curled up on his pillow, succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a troubled sleep.

Hours later Harry felt himself slowly waken. He felt the warm afternoon sun shining in through the window falling on his body and he stretched contentedly. With a start he realized he was still a cat and sat up, looking around the room. He had half hoped that when he woke up he would be back to normal, but nothing had changed since last night. His relatives had evidently not bothered to check on him again today, so he was safe for the time being. He was getting thirsty though, and he had to use the loo something fierce, but there was no way he could wander the house in his current condition, even if he could open the door to his room without hands!

He gave one more half-hearted try at changing back again before giving it up as a lost cause. He glumly realized he was going to have to get help to change himself back. So much for keeping his new ability a secret after that! He knew there was always a member of the Order stationed outside the house while he was at the Dursleys'. If he could catch Remus or maybe Tonks out there, it might not be so bad. Remus would probably tell him off for being reckless and Tonks would be sure to make fun of his problem, but he felt he could probably count on them to at least keep his secret for now.

He leapt off the bed and up onto his desk again and walked over to the window. Looking out over the front garden in the bright afternoon he was reminded of how much sharper his senses seemed to be. His eyes easily caught the quick movements of birds flitting about the trees and his ears heard the quiet rustling of some small animal in his aunt's rose garden. Shaking his head he looked for a way down from the window. It seemed much higher than it had last night, he thought. Looking for an easy way down, he really did not see anything but a straight drop from his window to the front garden. Harry backed up and sat down on his desk to think. Maybe a real cat could have made the jump from this high, but maybe not. As a brand new Animagus Harry decided he did not really want to try. How else was he going to get out of his room to find help, though? It wasn't like he could turn the knob on his door...

If Harry had hands he would had slapped himself in the forehead. His door! The one that his uncle had put a _cat flap_ in to feed him when they locked him in his room before second year! Harry jumped down off his desk and ran across the room to his door. Stopping there, he slowly poked his head through the flap and looked around. There was no sign of any of the Dursleys! It was early afternoon so his uncle was still at work and his cousin was probably out roaming the street with his gang. That just left his aunt to worry about, he thought, as he squeezed the rest of his body through the opening.

Quickly deciding that nothing else on this floor was going to help him, Harry stealthily crept to the top of the stairs. Couching there, he listened carefully and heard the telly in the sitting room. That probably meant his aunt was in there watching one of her daytime programmes. Taking advantage of this he slunk quickly and quietly down the steps and once he reached the ground floor turned and scampered into the kitchen.

It appeared that Harry's luck was holding, at least for now. Not only was the kitchen empty, but his aunt had left the window over the sink open to let in the pleasant breeze. Hopping up on the worktop he took a moment to wonder what his aunt would say if she was to walk in and see a cat walking around on her immaculately clean worktop! Not caring to wait around and find out, Harry slunk over to the window and surveyed the back garden, to find it also clear of anyone.

Leaping down from the window sill onto the lawn below he thought for a moment, what should he do next? First things first, he quickly and quietly crept behind the bushes against the house to relieve himself. Without thinking he scratched out a small hole in the dirt to do his business in before covering it up again. He was sure if his face had not been covered with fur it would have been bright red at the idea of using his Aunt's rose bushes as a loo, but he pushed that thought from his mind.

Looking around the back garden, he suddenly realized he had a strange desire to mark out his territory. Shaking his head he remembered reading that one of the advantages of being an Animagus was that one gained access to their animal's natural instincts. This made it easier to operate as an animal, but Sirius had cautioned him that he would need to be able to control those instincts if he didn't want to be distracted.

Suddenly, Harry noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and without thinking he pounced on it! Looking down, he found a field mouse struggling under his paws. Harry batted the poor creature back and forth for a moment before pinning it to the ground again and leaning down to bite it in the neck and kill it. As soon as his mouth touched the desperately struggling creature Harry jumped back realizing what he was about to do! He quickly suppressed the desire to chase after the small mouse as it fled deeper into the garden. What was he doing! Sure he was hungry, but he wasn't about to start eating mice! Ew!

Shaking his head to clear it again, he scampered over to the fence separating the back garden from the front of the house. The gate was closed and latched, but with a bit of wriggling he was able to squeeze himself underneath. The house and whole neighbourhood looked so different from his new perspective that he took a moment to look around and get his bearings. The buildings all looked so strange and so much larger and the streets seemed as wide as a Quidditch pitch. Huge metal monsters rolled past the house he crouched next to, looking alien and dangerous. Harry slowly crept along the side of the house, keeping to the bushes and shadows as much as he could.

When he finally reached the relative safety of the bushes in front of Number 4, he found himself where he had hidden just last year to listen to the Muggle news on his relative's telly for any hint of what Voldemort was doing. Crouching there, he could still hear the telly in the parlour. Ignoring that distraction he stretched his body around the bush to peek up and down the street. Looking closely, he thought he saw something behind the tree in front of the house next door, so he decided to investigate and see if it was one of his minders.

Running quickly across the space between the Dursleys' and the house next door, Harry dived into the bushes in front of his neighbour's home. Peeking out again he was pleased to see it was Tonks who was leaning against the tree out in front. She was looking up and down the street and occasionally casting glances at Number 4, but she seemed to be making no effort to hide her presence, which puzzled Harry at first. Trying to figure out what she was doing, he sat down and cocked his head to one side, peering at her more closely. It was true everything looked different as a cat, but Harry thought there was something… odd about Tonks's appearance. Her colours seemed more washed out than everything else. Even her hair, which Harry remembered to have been bright pink the last time he saw her, was faded and almost colourless. As he continued to stare at the Metamorphmagus he noticed a ghostly outline of something draped around her and suddenly realized why she was so unconcerned with hiding herself! She had told him once that Mad-Eye had an old Invisibility Cloak just like his. She must be wearing it! Harry felt a twinge of satisfaction at this conclusion. He had always suspected that Filch's cat could see him when he was wearing his own Invisibility Cloak and this just confirmed that.

Looking up and down the street and seeing no one near the two of them, Harry slunk out of the bushes and over to the tree where Tonks stood. She looked down as he crossed the lawn between them, her eyes opening wider as Harry sat down and looked up at her.

"Well, aren't you the pretty one," Tonks said quietly as she crouched down to run her hand along his back. "Are you one of Arabella's lot?"

Harry was about to hiss at her for calling him 'pretty' when she began to pet him and without thinking, his hiss turned into a contented purr as he arched his back under her hand. Wow! No wonder cats like to be stroked like that, it felt amazing! So lost was he in the pleasure of being petted by the young witch, Harry completely forgot what he had come out here for until Tonks stood up again to resume her watch of the neighbourhood.

Shaking his head again, Harry walked closer to Tonks and stood up with his front paws against her leg and meowed loudly to get her attention.

"Sorry, my little friend," she said, looking down at him for a moment before returning her gaze to the street. "I'm afraid I'm too busy right now to play. Why don't you wander back home to Arabella. I'm sure she'll be glad to give you some attention."

Harry's first instinct was to bite her for ignoring him, but instead he kneaded her leg with both front paws and meowed again even louder.

"Look you," she said somewhat more sternly. "I'm supposed to be staying out of sight and you're going to blow my cover. Go on, shoo before someone sees you!"

As she said this, Tonks leaned over and waved her hands at Harry, momentarily letting them slip out from under the cloak. Harry hopped back to avoid her flailing hands and she almost tipped as she overbalanced, reaching for him. Giving him a dirty look, she then stood up and resumed her post next to the tree. Thrashing his tail in annoyance, Harry turned and stalked back to the nearby bushes. Reaching his sanctuary he flopped down on the ground and stared back at the oblivious Auror.

That was certainly a waste of time! How was he going to get one of the Order members to pay attention to him long enough to have any chance of convincing them he wasn't just some neighbourhood cat? He was already getting tired of this. He was thirsty and hungry and he just wanted to get back to his right form.

With one last look at Tonks, Harry decided he had to do something about his immediate needs so he walked off to try and find something to eat and drink. His search seemed to last for hours, before he finally found a garden spigot that was dripping at one of the houses down the street. Eagerly lapping the cool water directly from the tap restored some of his energy and his resolve, so he continued to search for a source of food.

Harry stopped to consider his next move. He had not had any luck finding food on this side of the street so far, if he didn't count birds or mice, and he had no intention of hunting down and eating small animals yet. Maybe he should do as Tonks had suggested and go to Mrs. Figg's house. Surely with all her cats he should be able to find something to eat there, right? Creeping up to the kerb he shivered as he watched one of the neighbour's cars go by, looking bigger than Gawp to him in his current form. Peering up and down the street he realized that the traffic was picking up. It was late afternoon and evidently many of the people of Little Whinging were returning from work now.

Taking one more look at the cars passing regularly in front of him, Harry decided that now was not the time to be crossing any streets. Turning the other way, he decided to check the last couple houses at the other end of the block before giving up and trying Tonks again.

Scampering quickly past the next few houses, he finally reached the other end of the block and surveyed the house there. A new family had moved in since last summer and Harry didn't really know anything about them. The house seemed empty and quiet, however, so he squeezed under their fence and began searching their back garden for food. He was almost immediately rewarded with the sight of a bowl by the back door containing what looked like table scraps! Thanking Merlin for finally finding some food, he was almost to the bowl when he heard a low growling from the opposite end of house.

Looking up quickly, Harry saw an angry looking bull dog slowly approaching him. Harry arched his back and hissed menacingly at the dog, but this only seemed to anger it more as it then charged at Harry, barking wildly! Harry's animal instincts again took over and before he knew it he had dashed across the garden and up the nearest tree.

Catching his breath, Harry stared down at the angry dog as it paced around the base of the tree, barking and growling up at him. Harry stretched out on the branch he was occupying and began grooming himself as he tried to work out how to escape the bull dog. This situation reminded him unpleasantly of the time Aunt Marge's bull dog, Ripper, had chased him up a tree at in the Dursleys'. He had been stuck up there most of the day, but he did not have time for that now. He really needed to get back to Number 4 so he could contact one of his guards.

Looking around, he realized that the branch he was resting on overhung the fence between this house and the next. Pacing carefully along, he reached the end of the branch easily and looked down into the next garden. This one seemed totally empty, so with a loud meow for the dog, which had been following along under Harry, he leapt down into the back garden of the home next door, neatly escaping his canine tormentor.

Once free of the garden and the troublesome dog, he flipped his tail jauntily and turned to retrace his route back to the tree where he had seen Tonks earlier, only to find her gone and another Order member in her place. In the gathering late afternoon shadows he crept closer until the distinctive stench confirmed who it was; Mundungus Fletcher!

Harry sat down again, at a loss for what to do. There was no way he was going to try and convince Dung of who he was. Even if he could somehow get the little sneak thief to pay attention to a passing cat, he had no confidence that the wizard would be willing or even able to keep Harry's secret.

With nothing else to do, Harry lay down in the shadows of the bushes to watch Fletcher stand his watch. Maybe Tonks would be back later or Remus might be next once Mundungus' shift was over? As he watched the wizard, his contempt for him grew. Dung spent hardly any time watching for trouble, instead spending most of his time reading the sports page in a dog-eared copy of the _Daily Prophet_ before the light got too dim for him to see the print. After that he just leaned up against the tree, sometimes drifting off to sleep only to awaken again with a start when he stared to slip down the trunk.

Finally, after several hours of this he saw Mundungus pull a battered old pocket watch out of his robes, look at it, shake it and look at it once more. "Blasted thing stopped again," he complained. "I'm sure I've been here for hours," he muttered, "where's me bloody relief, anyway? Dumbledore's got to realize I'm a busy man, I am! I've got things to do besides mind Potter."

Looking up and down the street for the first time in quite a while, the dumpy little man seemed to have reached a decision. "Right," he mumbled. "Nothing going on here, anyway. I'm off to Arthur and Molly's to see if they know where my bleeding replacement is!"

Making a split second decision, Harry jumped up and ran towards the little wizard. Just as he started to turn on his heel to Disapparate, Harry leapt onto the back of his leg and sank the claws on all four feet into his robes!

Harry felt the usual unpleasant sensation of being forced through a rubber tube before gratefully finding himself just outside the wards of the Burrow. Suddenly, Harry yowled in pain as he felt a sharp jab in his right side!

"Bloody cat!" Mundungus yelled, using his wand to throw another Stinging Hex at Harry, which he managed to dodge this time. "You coulda made me Splinch meself! Get out of here before I curse you proper!"

With a parting hiss, Harry ran into the overgrown bushes along the path to the house, quickly hiding from the angry wizard. Looking back, he saw Fletcher return his wand to its place in his dirty robes, still swearing under his breath. After twisting around to check the back of his robes for damage, he then walked up to the door and knocked. Following this, Harry's sensitive ears heard the murmur of a questioning voice before the door swung open and Dung stepped into the house.

Harry slumped onto the ground beneath the bushes in frustration. He had made it to the Burrow all right, but he was still stuck outside. Maybe this had not been such a good idea. He knew with Voldemort's return Mrs. Weasley was unlikely to let any of her children out after dark and the adults tended to hurry in and out when they were on Order business, so he was probably even less likely to be able to get anyone's attention here than on Privet Drive. Creeping closer to the door, he sat down behind a rusty old cauldron to wait and see what would happen. Maybe he would get lucky; he was certainly due some by this point.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry had snoozed fitfully beside the back door of the Burrow last night. The ground was cold and damp and it seemed every time he would finally succumb to sleep some noise in the woods or fields surrounding the Weasley home would rouse him and it would then take forever to fall back asleep again. In desperation just after dawn, Harry had tried to scratch his name in the dirt of the pathway to the crooked old house. He hoped he could attract someone's attention on their way in or out long enough to question why a cat was sitting there with the word 'Harry' written next to him. At this point he was desperate enough he didn't care anymore about keeping his secret, he just wanted to find someone to change him back. He still seemed to be having trouble with written words and letters, however, and after much effort all he had managed was an illegible scrawl in the dirt.

He was just about to slink back behind the rusty old cauldron to wait some more when he heard the distinctive pop of Apparition at the edge of the property. Looking up, he saw the familiar hair and figure of Molly Weasley walking up the path trying to juggle several bags of groceries while she attempted to pull out her wand to unlock the door. Just as she finally managed to get her wand out and opened the door, one of the bags tore and half a dozen oranges went rolling down the steps and onto the ground.

"Oh, bother!" she exclaimed. "With all these people popping in and out these days, it seems all I do anymore is shop and cook!" Setting the bags down on the porch she scurried down the steps to pick up her fallen fruit.

Seeing his opportunity, Harry streaked up onto the porch and through the door as soon as Mrs. Weasley had her back to him. Finally! He was inside again and safe for the moment. Hearing his best friend's mother picking up her bags again, Harry turned around and ran up the stairs before she could see him. Taking a moment to think, his first impulse was to find Ron and try to get his help. Going quickly up to the top of the stairs, he was relieved to see the door to Ron's room standing slightly open. Slinking through the gap he saw, to his disappointment, that the room was deserted. There was no sign of the camp bed he usually slept on when staying at the Weasley's, either. With the idea that he would wait here for Ron to show up, Harry jumped up onto the garish orange blanket that covered his friend's bed. After pacing around the warm, soft bed Harry yawned, realizing just how tired he still was. Thinking he'd rest for just a minute, Harry curled up on the pillow and closed his eyes quickly falling asleep after all the excitement of the last day.

Harry was rudely awakened some time later when a pillow struck the bed next to him. He jumped up and backed into the corner looking wildly around when he heard Ron's booming voice.

"Oi, you bloody cat! Who let you in here?"

Harry stiffened as a huge Ron lumbered across the room to pick him up and gently toss him out the door.

"Go find someone else's room to sleep in," he said and slammed the door on a still half-awake Harry.

His mind finally clearing of sleep, Harry realized he had missed another opportunity to convince someone who he was. Drat! Harry thought for a moment. If Ron was here, he wondered, perhaps Hermione was too? Surely the cleverest witch of her age could figure out that Harry was no ordinary cat? With this in mind, Harry walked down the stairs to Ginny's room where Hermione normally stayed. This door was closed, so he scratched at it and meowed loudly several times. After a moment the door swung open and a towering figure with long red hair peered out.

"Why, aren't you the handsome fellow?" Ginny said, crouching down to scratch Harry's ears. Forgetting his reason for being there in the first place he immediately began to purr and press he head up against her hand. Gently, she scooped him into her arms and carried him into the room. Harry was lost in bliss as she ran her hands down his back and along his tail. This was even better than when Tonks did it! His purr grew in volume as he arched his back to press up into her hand.

Ginny laughed gaily as she sat down cross legged on her bed and deposited Harry in her lap. Without thinking he rolled over on to his back and presented his stomach for her ministrations. He flopped back bonelessly across her legs, his eyes closed, and continued to purr as she gently stroked his belly.

"You are the quite the little pleasure hound, aren't you?" she asked, smiling down at him. "It's nice to have some company today. I was getting a bit lonely in here all by myself."

As her words sunk in Harry twisted his head around to look at the other side of the room. The blankets and pillow were all stacked neatly at the foot of the camp bed that Hermione would sleep in. Obviously no one was using that bed yet so that must mean Hermione wasn't here after all. Harry would have groaned with frustration if his cat body could have produced that sound.

"Where did you come from? I'm sure I've never seen you around before. I love cats, you know, and I'm sure I would remember those bright green eyes of yours," Ginny continued with a smile. "I wonder if you belong to one of the Order members." Ginny gave his stomach another friendly rub.

Suddenly realizing where he was and what the young witch was doing, Harry scrambled out of her lap and sat up straight beside her on the bed. Pushing down the embarrassment at what his best mate's little sister had just been doing to him, he looked at her forlornly and meowed as pathetically as he could while staring into her chocolate brown eyes.

"You need something?" she asked. "I've got it! I bet your hungry, aren't you?"

It wasn't what Harry had intended, but he realized he _was_ hungry. Thinking back, it had been over twenty-four hours since his last meal, so that was no surprise. He meowed again.

"Well, come on, then," she said as she scooped him carefully back into her arms. "Let's go down stairs and see if my mum has something for you, shall we?"

She walked back onto the landing and down the steps, chatting happily at Harry about the old house and how glad she was they weren't stuck in Grimmauld Place again this summer. She assured him he was sure to have a much better time at the Burrow.

"Afternoon, Mum!" Ginny said as she and Harry walked into the kitchen. Inside, Mrs. Weasley was busy putting together tea for a few people who were sitting around the scrubbed table, talking quietly.

"Hello, Ginny dear," she replied. "Are you hungry? I've got finger sandwiches and some biscuits here for tea if you'd like?"

"That sounds great, Mum, but what I was really looking for is something for my little friend here."

The older witch turned around and caught sight of Harry sitting in Ginny's arms. "Oh! Well, why don't you set him out a bowl of water, dear. I think I may have some of that chicken left from last night he could have."

Ginny set Harry on the floor, and after filling a bowl she found in the dish drainer with water, she placed it in front of him. Harry eagerly began to lap up the cool water, much to Ginny's amusement. His thirst finally satisfied, Harry sat back and watched Mrs. Weasley as she put a piece of cold chicken on a plate and set it next to the bowl of water. Harry immediately began eating the chicken with relish while the two ginger-haired witches looked on.

"He certainly is hungry, isn't he?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes," agreed Ginny with a smile. "Do you know who he belongs to, Mum? I found him on the landing outside my bedroom just a little while ago, looking like he didn't have a friend in the world."

"I don't know," she replied thoughtfully. "Honestly, there are so many people in and out of here these days it's impossible for me to keep up. He does look a bit thin, but otherwise he looks too well kept to be a stray, even if he doesn't seem to have a collar." She leaned over and stoked his back, but Harry was so busy eating he hardly noticed this time.

"I tell you what, why don't you take care of him for now. I'm sure if someone's lost him they'll bring it up at the next meeting."

"Mum?" Ginny asked with a hopeful look in her eyes. "If no one claims him, do you think I could keep him?"

The older witch sighed. "We'll see, Ginny. Now, don't be getting your hopes up, though. If he doesn't belong to one of the other Order members, he might have wandered up from the village."

After a few more minutes Harry finished all of the chicken and lapped a bit more water before sitting up and starting to groom his whiskers. Looking around, he saw Ginny turn to leave the kitchen and decided to follow her. After all, he thought, Ginny was clever, too. Maybe he could find some way to get across to her who he was?

Ginny looked back to see if Harry was following her and then sprinted up the stairs to the third landing and ducked into her room. Almost before he reached the door she was back out again with a book in her hand and leaping down the stairs again. With a low hiss of frustration, Harry turned around and followed her back to the kitchen.

"Mum," Ginny called as she strode through the room before pausing at the door to the back garden. "I need to get out of the house for a bit. I'm going to go outside for a while to do some of my summer reading."

"I suppose that's alright, dear," replied Mrs. Weasley. "Just don't go beyond the hedge."

With a cheery wave Ginny acknowledged her mum's instructions and held the door open for Harry. As Harry followed her out the door and across the back garden, he was distracted by movement in Mrs. Weasley's vegetable plot.

Peering between the rows of plants, Harry spied a garden gnome attempting to pull a carrot out of the ground. The young Animagus thought that Mrs. Weasley would probably have Ron out here soon to de-gnome the garden again, a seemingly endless task at the Burrow. As he was thinking this, however, he crouched down on his belly and began slowly creeping toward the unsuspecting gnome. Silently, one step at a time, Harry got closer and closer to the busy creature until he was only about a foot away. At that point, something must have alerted the little pest, because it looked up and saw him. With a panicked squeak the gnome released the carrot it had been working on, turned and tried to run. Harry was on him before he had gone two steps, though.

With a deft swing of his paw, Harry knocked the unfortunate creature arse over teakettle down the row of carrots. The gnome tried to get up and keep running, but each time Harry was on the thing before it could take a step, knocking it over again. Finally, it made one last attempt to stand before stumbling dizzily and falling down again. Harry strode up to the prostrate gnome and picking it up by the scuff of its neck, he strode proudly out of the garden to continue after Ginny.

In less than a minute he found her sitting in the shade of an old tree, leaning up against the trunk with a school book open in her lap. Walking up to the seated young witch, he dropped the gnome in front of her, then put a paw on its back when it tried to crawl away. The creature began cursing and kicking its horny little feet, but the gnome was unable to free itself. Looking at Ginny, Harry meowed to her, very pleased with himself.

Looking up and seeing Harry with the struggling gnome, she chuckled and said, "Well! Is that for me, then? Thank you very much my little friend."

Reaching down, she grabbed the gnome by his feet and standing up, swung it several times around her head before tossing it far out into the field beyond the Burrow's back hedge. Sitting back down, she reached over and scratched Harry behind the ears.

"You certainly are a fierce little hunter, aren't you?"

Harry felt inordinately pleased with her praise, until he suddenly realized what he had done. After his experiences with the field mouse in his aunt's garden he could understand why he got distracted catching the gnome, but why in the world did he give it to Ginny like some sort of present?

He shook his head again and with no better ideas for now, Harry walked over and sat down next to Ginny to see what she was reading.

"Welcome back." she said as she ran her hand down his back, for now ignoring the book sitting beside her. "I thought maybe I'd lost you already. Seems like no one really has time for me these days. Mum's busy taking care of the Order members, Ron's too busy writing letters to Hermione, and the twins are off at their shop. I haven't even heard anything from Harry this summer." She sighed. "I really thought after I went with him to the Ministry with Ron, Hermione and the others that he might start to see me as more than Ron's little sister, but I guess not."

She looked so sad as she sat there scratching Harry's ears that he didn't get any pleasure at all out of the action. She was right, he thought morosely. She had believed in him last year and helped him when few people did and when he ran off to the Department of Mysteries she hadn't hesitated to follow him despite the dangers. She deserved better from him than the way he had ignored her for the rest of the school year or the summer so far. Harry lay down beside her and rubbed his head against her leg while purring in an attempt to cheer her up. He swore to himself that once he was human again he would apologize properly to her and start treating her like the valued friend she had proven herself to be.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the back door to the Burrow slamming followed by loud voices coming from the house. Ginny jumped up and rushed back across the garden to see what was happening. Harry was concerned, too, so he followed Ginny through the door and back into the kitchen where the commotion was coming from. Looking around, Harry saw Mrs. Weasley and several members of the Order surrounding Professor Dumbledore.

With so many people talking at once it was impossible to determine what was wrong right away, but not long after Ginny and Harry arrived the Floo flared green and Remus Lupin stepped out of the fire. Looking around, he quickly stepped up to the white-haired wizard and asked, "Albus! What in the world is wrong? I just received a message from Tonks to come over immediately, but she didn't say why."

"Oh, Remus!" cried Ginny's mother, wringing her hands nervously. "Albus was just out at Privet Drive to check on Harry and he says the poor boy is missing!"


	4. Chapter 4

"WHAT!?" cried Remus. He turned to the Headmaster and asked him, "Are you sure, Albus? How long has he been missing?"

The elderly wizard raised his hands and the room quickly became silent. "Please everyone, calm yourselves," he began before turning to Remus. "I sent a letter to Harry recently telling him that I would be coming to Privet Drive this evening to bring him here to the Burrow. When I didn't hear back from the boy I became concerned and decided to make my visit earlier than I originally planned. When I arrived a short time ago, Harry's aunt and uncle where out, so I let myself in and checked his room.

Remus nodded his understanding and urged him to continue.

"It was something of a mess but nothing unusual for a teenage wizard, I would say. His school trunk, clothing and books were all still there, and his owl Hedwig was asleep in her cage. The window in his room was open, but from what the Order members who have stood guard over Harry this summer say, he often left the window open to allow Hedwig to come and go. In any case, there was no sign of a struggle, but there was no sign of Harry, either."

Mrs. Weasley gasped, but the elderly wizard just continued on.

"I was searching the rest of the house for any clue as to where the boy might have gone when his relatives returned. I must say they weren't too pleased to find me there, but, after a great deal of yelling on their part, I was finally able to persuade them to admit they hadn't actually laid eyes on their nephew for several days. At that point I decided the best course of action was for me to return here and alert the Order."

Harry wondered, should he approach the Headmaster and try to get him to notice he was right here? He hesitated, though, still feeling a combination of embarrassment and anger over the last meeting the two of them had just after they returned from the Department of Mysteries. As Harry stood there undecided, Dumbledore continued.

"I have already asked Nymphadora to Apparate to the Ministry and check if there has been any reports of Death Eater activity today, especially in the area of Surrey," he said.

"Perhaps she should check for reports of underage magic, too?" suggested Mrs. Weasley. "Remember what happened last year with Harry and those horrid Dementors!"

"An excellent idea, Molly!" he told her. "In the mean time… Sturgis why don't you and Hestia Apparate to Little Whinging to begin searching the area for any sign of our missing charge? Be sure to check the park down the street as I understand Harry likes to spend his time there. Be sure to keep an eye on his relatives' house, also, just in case he does return. While you do that, I will make my way back to Hogwarts and see if I can determine anything from the monitoring charms in my office."

"What would you like me to do, Albus?" asked the concerned werewolf.

Placing his hand on Remus' shoulder, Dumbledore said, "For now, why don't you wait here my friend. If Harry does not return to the Dursley home, the Burrow is his most likely destination. If he does show up here please contact me immediately. Likewise, you and Molly will be the first to know if I receive any news."

His shoulders slumping, Remus nodded his agreement before the Headmaster turned and disappeared into the Floo in a flash of green flames. Deciding to take his chances now that Professor Dumbledore was gone, Harry scampered up to his father's old friend and began meowing.

Lupin began to pace back and forth, rubbing his forehead with one hand. "I don't understand why Harry would have left like this, without telling anyone. I know he doesn't particularly enjoy staying with his relatives, but with Voldemort out in the open now it's even more dangerous for him to be wandering off by himself."

When Remus didn't seem to notice Harry sitting there meowing, the young cat Animagus started to pace along beside him, while continuing his vocalizations. When the worn-looking wizard turned suddenly and almost tripped over Harry, he looked down bemusedly and asked, "Does anyone know who this cat belongs to?"

"We're not sure, Remus, but my daughter has been taking care of him," said Mrs. Weasley. "Ginny, why don't you take that cat up to your room and keep him there so he isn't underfoot?"

"But Mum!" Ginny argued, "I'm worried about Harry, too! I want to stay down here so I can hear what's going on."

"Don't worry, dear, I'll be sure to let you know as soon as we hear anything. Now go on with you."

With a scowl, Ginny picked up Harry and strode out of the room, carrying him while he continued to stare at Remus, still meowing plaintively. As they left Harry heard her brother Ron, who had arrived at some point, asking their mum if someone could go and get Hermione from her parent's house.

Once upstairs, Ginny stalked into her bedroom, slammed the door closed behind her and dropped Harry on her bed.

"It's always the same!" she complained as she paced back and forth in front of the bed. "Send little Ginny out of the room when important things are happening! She's too young to hear what's going on! She's still just a little girl!" She swung around, eyes blazing, and looked down at Harry, who was listening to her intently. "I just get so tired of it… when are they going to realize I'm _not_ a child anymore?" she finished more softly before sitting down on the bed and leaning back against the bed-board and closing her eyes.

Harry felt really bad for Ginny. After the last year he could certainly relate to people keeping things from him. After all, Dumbledore had kept important information from him, even things that he had specifically _asked_ the old wizard about. All because Harry was 'too young' or he 'didn't want to burden him'. Didn't the Headmaster understand that ignorance could get you killed with Voldemort and his Death Eaters on the loose? Besides, he and Ginny had both been through a lot and more than proved themselves! Didn't they _deserve_ to know about Voldemort after both their lives had been affected so deeply by the dark wizard?

Without thinking Harry climbed up into Ginny's lap and rubbed his head against her cheek in an attempt to comfort her. In response, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him gently to her chest.

"I suppose I shouldn't worry about myself when Harry could be in so much danger," she sighed and rubbed her cheek back against Harry's head. "Why is it always Harry? Hasn't he gone through enough in his life? I know he just wants to be a normal teenage boy. Why won't they let him?"

Harry was a bit surprised at how well Ginny seemed to know him. That was all he really wanted, to be left alone so he could just be normal. It was too bad that wasn't going to happen until either he or Voldemort was dead.

Harry pulled back, standing on his hind legs with his front paws resting on Ginny's shoulders. In this position his head was just about level with hers so he was looking right into her bright brown eyes.

"You are a strange one, aren't you?" Ginny asked as she reached up to scratch his ears. Harry fought to maintain his focus while she did. "Do you think Harry is going to be alright?"

Harry meowed and then bobbed his head up and down in the closest thing he could manage to a nod. Ginny's eyes widened.

"I-I'd almost think you understood what I just asked you," she said softly.

Harry meowed and bobbed his head again, then leaned forward until his nose was almost touching Ginny's. He stared into her eyes willing her to make the jump in logic.

"I didn't notice before that your eyes aren't just green. They're exactly the same green as Harry's eyes," she said thoughtfully. "And… there's a mark in the fur over your right eye, just where Harry's has his scar."

Harry's tongue darted out and licked the end of her nose and then he bobbed his head again.

Ginny's eyes widened even more, and she said in a whisper, "No... it can't be."

Harry bobbed his head and meowed again.

"Are you… are you… Harry?"

Harry meowed loudly in relief and he then rubbed his head against her cheek again.

Ginny lifted him from her lap and looked at his closely. "You …you really are Harry, aren't you?"

Harry meowed happily and again bobbed his head.

"Merlin! What happened to you, Harry?" Ginny asked, the words now tumbling out of her mouth. "Did one of Tom's Death Eaters transfigure you into a cat? Was it some cursed object? My brother Bill was telling me once about a statue of Bast they found in a tomb in Egypt. Before he broke the curse on it, anyone who touched it was turned into a cat just like you and…"

Ginny, stopped in mid-sentence when Harry gently put one paw over her mouth.

"Oh, right! You can't exactly answer me right now, can you?" she continued sheepishly. "Well, let's go and tell my mum what's going on and maybe she can sort you out."

Harry hissed and backed away from Ginny.

"Whoa! What's wrong, Harry? Don't you want my mum's help?"

Harry moved his head from side to side, and then looked toward the door.

"Oh-kay… I think I understand. You don't want my Mum to know what happened, but what are we going to do, then?"

Harry tried unsuccessfully to roll his eyes. Instead, he jumped off the bed and padded over to the closed bedroom door. Getting the idea immediately that he wanted to leave the bedroom, Ginny walked over and opened the door. As Harry darted out, she quickly followed after him onto the landing and down the stairs to the ground floor. She finally caught up with him sitting in front of the entry to the parlour. Inside, she saw Remus standing by the window staring silently out.

"Oh! So you want Professor Lupin's help, then? Fair enough," she said quietly, as she scooped him up and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. Inside, they heard Remus begin murmuring quietly to himself.

"Professor Lupin?" said Ginny.

The wizard jumped and spun to face her, a look of sudden hope on his face. "Ginny! I think I've told you before; you don't have to call me Professor anymore. In any case, have you heard anything? Have they found Harry yet?"

"Well, in a manner of speaking," she said as she walked into the room. "I guess you could say I found Harry." She then held up Harry and then set him on the floor in front of Remus, where he sat up and looked up at his former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Ginny…." the older wizard replied with a sigh, his shoulders drooping. "That's sweet that you named your cat Harry, but I'm more concerned about my best friend's only son right now."

"He's not mine and I didn't name him. This _is_ Harry James Potter."

"Look, Ginny, I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but I'm not in the mood for jokes. For all we know, Harry may have been missing to two or three days already and I'm really worried about him, not some stray cat you found wandering around the Burrow."

"That's right, Remus," Ginny replied tersely, her hands going to her hips. "A stray cat with black hair and green eyes, just like Harry. A stray cat that showed up out of nowhere right after Harry disappeared. A stray cat that was trying to get your attention earlier when you heard Harry was missing."

Remus stood there looking at the young witch with his mouth open. Slowly he turned are looked at Harry as he sat on the floor right in front of him. He peered at Harry closely for a moment before taking a deep breath and asking hesitantly, "Harry? Is that really you?"

Harry meowed loudly and then bobbed his head up and down.

Remus rubbed his face with one hand and let out the breath he had been holding. Uncovering his face, he crossed his arms and looked sternly at the black cat in front of him.

"The book and the notes Sirius gave you both advised you not to do this without someone there to help in case you had any problems. After the end of term I specifically advised you to seek out Minerva McGonagall's help before you proceeded, but you still went ahead and did it on your own, didn't you?"

Harry lowered his gaze from the irate wizard and hung his head.

"What are you going on about? Wasn't Harry cursed or something?" asked a confused Ginny.

"No, Ginny, he wasn't cursed," replied Remus. "Sirius was helping Harry become an Animagus like he and James were, but our missing wizard here seems to have jumped ahead in his lessons before he was really ready, and now he's _stuck_ , aren't you, Harry?"

Harry was sure he heard a note of amusement in the werewolf's voice now. So he looked up and glared at the older wizard.

"And really," he continued, the corners of his mouth twitching up now, "what would Sirius say if he knew his godson was a _cat_?" With a dramatic sigh, Remus continued, "We'll have to come up with a new nickname, too. I can hardly call you 'cub' anymore. I wonder... maybe... Fluffy or... I know! Mr. Whiskers?"

Harry had suspected Remus might take the mickey out of him once he knew what his animal was, but this hardly seemed the time so he arched his back and hissed at him as the older wizard chuckled.

"Oh, alright, keep your hair on, young man! Actually, maybe you'd like to get some of that hair off, would you?"

Harry continued to glare at Remus as he heard Ginny stifling a giggle.

"Well, I suppose I have to change you back, if only so Molly will stop worrying where you've run off to this time."

Saying that, Remus pulled a wand from his pocket and pointed it at Harry. There was a flash of light and he felt the swooping sensation in his stomach and the sense of disorientation as he suddenly grew back to his normal size and shape. Straightening up from where he was crouched on the floor, Harry stumbled for a moment as he tried to balance again on just two feet. Ginny stepped forward to take his elbow and steady him until he had his feet under himself once more.

Next, Harry tried to get his mouth to work. "Me… Me…" Harry coughed and then said while shaking his head, "Merlin, it feels good to be back to normal again."

Remus just chuckled while Ginny had the courtesy to cover her mouth and try to hide her grin of amusement.

"All right! All right!" Harry sighed. "You and Sirius were both right, Remus; I shouldn't have been practicing on my own. It just got so _boring_ back on Privet Drive! I had all this time on my hands with nothing to do and no one to talk to. I was going mad!"

Remus finally managed to stifle his amusement and asked, "Just how long were you stuck like that, anyway, Harry?"

"I'd actually been practicing partial transformations for a while now with no problems, so Wednesday night I figured that I'd give the full transformation a try. Anyway, it's Friday afternoon now so that's almost forty-eight hours all together." Harry went on to explain how he'd been unable to change back, how he'd approached Tonks the next day, hitched a ride on Mundungus and finally snuck into the Burrow earlier today.

"I couldn't get anyone to pay attention to me long enough to realize I wasn't a normal cat until Ginny. I'm just lucky she was here!"

"Yeah, I guess you were," Remus said, giving Harry a strange look. Shaking his head, Remus placed a friendly hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "Honestly, Harry, I suspect Sirius would be proud. It's an amazing accomplishment to have achieved your first Animagus transformation in so short a time."

Harry stood straighter under the praise from his former teacher, and slowly smiled as he realized that this was the first time he had been able to think of his godfather since the Ministry, without any pain.

"We better let the rest of them know you're safe now and that they can stop searching for you. Come on, let's all go to the kitchen and give everyone the good news!"

"Erm, could you give Ginny and me a moment before we go in there, Remus? I had something I wanted to tell her."

"Sure thing, Harry," the wizard replied with a mysterious smirk. "Take your time. I'll just go ahead and give Albus a Floo call while you finish in here."

After Remus left the room, Harry stepped over to Ginny. She raised her coppery eyebrows when he reached out and took both her hands in his and said, "I meant what I said there, Ginny, you really saved me this time. Also, well… I'd like to apologize. I have been ignoring you since we got back from the Ministry. I've been ignoring all my friends and that's not fair. You put yourself on the line when I needed you back then and you deserve better from me now. I can't change the past, but I promise I'll try to do better by you from now on. Forgive me?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes at Harry for a moment, but then said, "Alright, Harry. I'll forgive you on one condition."

"Name it, Ginny! I meant it when I said I really owe you a lot."

Ginny got a sly look on her face and said quietly to the dark haired wizard, "I want you to help me learn to be an Animagus, too! I think it would be bloody brilliant!"

"Sure, Ginny!" Harry said with a laugh. "I left the book and notes that Sirius gave me back at Privet Drive, but as soon as I can get my stuff here I'll lend those to you to study. It may take a while: I started right after the Christmas hols and the last month I've been working on it almost full time, but I'll do anything to help that I can."

As he let go of her hands to turn towards the kitchen, Ginny looked at him closely for a moment and said, "Say, Harry, about the idea of a new nick name? How about 'Paws'?"

"Paws?" Harry said thoughtfully.

"I don't know, I just thought... Padfoot and Paws? It just seemed like they would kind of go together."

"Yeah! I think I like it," Harry decided with a grin.

Smiling, the two of them walked out the door together to join Remus and Mrs. Weasley, and let the rest of her family and the Order know that Harry was alright. 

~ End ~


End file.
